The Casual Sports Media Weighs In On How The Rangers Became Good
by Freneau on Oct 27, 2010 9:00 AM EDT
Email
PrintNolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Josh Hamilton & God Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Josh Hamilton & God Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Ron Washington & Something Michael Young Said When Ron Washington Got Busted for Coke Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Ron Washington & Something Michael Young Said When Ron Washington Got Busted for Coke Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Ron Washington & Something Michael Young Said When Ron Washington Got Busted for Coke Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Ron Washington & Something Michael Young Said When Ron Washington Got Busted for Coke Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Josh Hamilton & God Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan
64 comments
|
3 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
They wish
he’s staying in Texas
Merry Cliffmas
by Gay For Feliz on Oct 27, 2010 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree
1. No income tax in TX; high income tax in NY.
2. Yankees fans spit at his wife.
(not that that’s really what you were getting at, JZ)
The only people who really know where [the edge] is are the ones who have gone over it.
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Oct 27, 2010 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Jon Daniels
I don’t know whether the entire DFW Metroplex assumes he was already fired or something, but I haven’t read a damn thing about Jon Daniels. I guess the handful that realize he’s still around assume that the good (no, amazing) moves he made were the result of Nolan being around. Sure, because Nolan Ryan somehow built the number one farm system in baseball before he’d even taken his position in the organization…
by dodge_buck_night on Oct 27, 2010 9:58 AM EDT reply actions 3 recs
Rec'd
that mark texiera trade was amazing
Merry Cliffmas
by Gay For Feliz on Oct 27, 2010 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Beats the hell out of RED SOX RED SOX RED SOX YANKEES YANKEES
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Oct 27, 2010 10:03 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
The thing Nolan did for the Rangers
was bring in a progressive thinking like Alan Jaeger to work with the pitchers. Look how it’s changed the team. A lot of people won’t give him credit for that, but he made it happen. The new programs they use and the workouts are great for pitchers as they’ve shown. I know it hasn’t worked on Cliff Lee because he was a midseason guy, but Tommy who? Our closer is now a starter CJ what? Japan produced Lewis who? That type of thing.
Um, Lewis is not an argument for Ryan
unless he scouted him and recommended signing him to a clueless Jon Daniels, and Lewis was using the Jaeger program in Japan.
Ryan and Washington getting credited with the rebuild while Daniels is hardly mentioned on TV is a joke. Ryan may very well be a good team president, but the success Lee and Lewis (the Ranger’s two best starters) has little or nothing to do with Ryan’s alleged counter-revolution in thinking about pitching… indeed, as people have pointed out recently, Rangers starters as a group were in the bottom half of the MLB in innings pitched.
We’ll really know that “Ryan’s” pitching philosophies have taken over when the starters get their BB/9 over 5.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Oct 27, 2010 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Daniels
Is a good example of a GM being pretty incompetent early on (he traded away Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez, John Danks, Alfonso Soriano and got very little for them) but sticking to his guns, building up the system, and improving on his MLB acquisitions.
Not saying Dayton will follow that path, I’m just saying I used to be one of Daniels’ biggest critics, and now I think he’s done a wonderful job of roster management.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Oct 27, 2010 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I also wonder
If the KC media has noticed that the Rangers turned their closer into a starter and somehow the team didn’t go to hell in a handbasket. And if they’re smart they’ll do the same thing with Feliz.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Oct 27, 2010 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
I agree with the concept and really supported it at one time.
But I don’t think he will hold up to a full season. I could be wrong.
- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …
by Jeff Zimmerman on Oct 27, 2010 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions
You talking about CJ or someone else?
CJ has pitched 222 1/3 innings this season, including playoffs. He was smacked around a bit by the Yankees but was very good against the Rays. I think he’s weathered the season well.
(Soria)
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball...Rock Chalk Talk
I'll argue with you on this Matt
I think the program change from the Rangers helped Lewis on this one.
But so has infusing the roster with young talent rejuvenating older players… and that’s Daniels. Do you think he likes deflecting the attention?
Maybe he likes defecting attention
I don’l know, if so, great, but you’d assume sports journalists would actually have a clue about how clubs work.
While no one should have expected Lewis to be this good (even a guru like Nolan Ryan), Patrick Newman, an expert on Japanese ball, was saying that Lewis had potential to be very good the Rangers signed him. I guess maybe TEX knew how to bring that potential out, but Lewis was already pitching well in Japan, lowering his walk rate to ridiculous levels. Given that Texas starters in general actually didn’t go deeper into games than average, well… what concrete evidence do we have that it’s “Ryan’s” system that made the difference with the new guys rather than the young guys coming up in the system (who contributed very little as starters this season, I should add)? I mean, other than the media’s desire to give a verbal tongue bath to a figurehead president who is one of the most overrated pitchers in baseball history?
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Oct 27, 2010 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions
ZIPS did project Lewis to be close to this good
ZIPS – 4.39 ERA 6.5 K/9 2.6 BB/9
Real life – 3.72 ERA 8.7 K/9 2.9 BB/9
Supposedly Lewis’ career turnaround came from reducing his velocity slightly to gain better command, and throwing a cutter. He learned those things in Japan.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
that's a favoable projection,especially given that it's hard to project league run environment
but there’s a big difference in K rate. Still, I agree that the evidence points to Lewis making his improvements in Japan.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Oct 27, 2010 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Unless maybe it were Greg Easterbrook or Andy Staples/Stewart Mandel.
But in MLB, forget about it. (If there’s an MLB writer I’m not thinking of, I’d be glad to know who)
but you’d assume sports journalists would actually have a clue about how clubs workNot by a long shot
The only people who really know where [the edge] is are the ones who have gone over it.
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Oct 27, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions
well played, Will
And as for all this talk of Jon Daniels, well, let’s just say that I, for one, prefer Scotch.
"Shot by my own men."
NBC picked up up this piece
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/10/27/how-the-rangers-became-good/
- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …
by Jeff Zimmerman on Oct 27, 2010 12:17 PM EDT reply actions
Oh it's Calcaterra
That makes sense now.
"This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."
Contributor at Kings of Kauffman
by MinnesotaRoyal on Oct 27, 2010 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions
It works just like our Fanshots, no compensation.
- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …
by Jeff Zimmerman on Oct 27, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Wait, what? We do not get paid for Fanshots?
by Gopherballs on Oct 27, 2010 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
John Daniels is screwing his daughter?
Don’t mess with Texas
by Nighthawk at the Diner on Oct 27, 2010 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions
At Least The
Age difference isn’t too creepy.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Oct 28, 2010 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions
thats right....Daniels is what, 28 yrs old tops? How bad could it be?
Faye Dunaway…..they don’t make starlets like they used to, eh?
by Nighthawk at the Diner on Oct 28, 2010 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions
The Opening Scenes
Of Bonnie And Clyde made me all tingly.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Oct 28, 2010 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions
the turn from preachers wife to call girl in Little Big Man
made my little man big……hell, I’d even take the Barfly version,,,,,,
by Nighthawk at the Diner on Oct 28, 2010 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Also,
Nolan’s purchase of the team allowed them to spend more money. How has that impacted them as a franchise?
Did Greenberg change his name to "Nolan?"
And that change took place later… the league was already planning on spotting the Rangers the cash for Cliff Lee (although the Rangers didn’t need it).
Even if Ryan was the moneyman, the media is talking about his brilliant “guidance,” not his open purse strings. If that was the case, George Steinbrenner would have been th greatest baseball executive either (and despite the post-mortem whitewashing, I don’t recall this being the nation media’s take on Big Stein when he was alive.)
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Oct 27, 2010 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, the Nolan Ryan bought the Rangers storyline is almost as bad as the Nolan Ryan built the Rangers storyline
Greenberg was the lead who put the investment group together and even then, there are two others, Ray Davis and Bob Simpson, who actually invested more than Greenberg. Ryan is one of the lesser investors, but because of his name, he was put front and center.
Much like W
I think George W Bush put in something like $15,000 for the Rangers, but because of his name and connectedness was made the face of the franchise.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
Check that , $500k
That he had to borrow. Still a middling amount for a $90 million franchise.
And I’m not criticizing Bush for doing this (heck I would do that if I had the chance), just saying the owner that is front and center is not always the one with the money.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
You know Will
The first step is making NBC. The second step is being featured on The Office. You could become Pam’s secretary.
I will give Will a run for Pam - I am going at from my other home.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/10/27/scouting-the-world-series-umpires/
- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …
by Jeff Zimmerman on Oct 27, 2010 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah
As a Rangers fan this has really been pissing me off. I even had someone tell me that “Nolan Ryan has been building this team for 5 years”
fuck the heck?
by Lum on Oct 27, 2010 1:07 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Jon Daniels is just Nolan's gopher
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
by Matt Klaassen on Oct 27, 2010 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Citing Nolan Ryan as the (sole? major?) success of the Rangers...
Hey, at least they’ve been cosistent with their claims…
by Royals Nation on Oct 27, 2010 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I think Cocaine should be given its fair credit.
broken sun clocks a dog's ass every twice and again --- Crooow
by averagegatsby on Oct 27, 2010 2:17 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
Cocaine....always the villain
never the valiant
by Nighthawk at the Diner on Oct 27, 2010 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions
It's all Nolan Ryan
What I’ve been hearing for years is that the Rangers are building up pitching. They have young starters that are going to come up, pitch deep into games, and revolutionize baseball.
What do I see:
1.) Their number one starter was traded for inseason
2.) Their number two starter is a converted veteran closer.
3.) Their number three starter is a signee from Japan.
There supposedly had tons of catcher prospects but will be starting Bengie Molina. Guerrero is one of their best hitters. Hamilton was a Rule 5 draft guy. Michael Young is a veteran (drafted by another team) Neither Chris Davis or Smoak is starting at 1b (Smoak is gone of course).
Scott Feldman, Tommy Hunter, and Ian Kinsler are the only players drafted/signed originally by the Rangers that are meaningful contributors.
The Rangers are in the World Series because of good trades. Hopefully, the Royals can make a big win trade or two and supplement the significant amount of talent getting ready to come out of the Minor Leagues.
Sorry, I never noted the Sarcasm I was implying with my: It's all Nolan Ryan header
I echo the sarcasm of the entire thread.
I think it was pretty clear.
Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball...Rock Chalk Talk
Hamilton was a Rule 5 guy
But not for Texas. He was acquired by Cincy, who after a year, traded him to Texas for Edinson Volquez.
Remember DVD – Danks/Volquez/Diamond? Yea, that never panned out.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
The DV part has panned out just fine
just not for the Rangers.
Feh.
by The Ol' Perfesser on Oct 27, 2010 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions
I shudder when I hear MGD
Terrible name and I briefly believed all three had it.
Thanks, I forgot about that.
So, the Rangers at one time traded for Cruz, Andrus, Young, Lee, Molina, Feliz, Hamilton, Cantu, Murphy, and Francoeur. They signed Lewis and Guerrero. They drafted Hunter, Feldman, Wilson, Moreland, Borbon, and Kinsler. (Hunter, Moreland, and Borbon all in 2007; Feldman 30th rd and Kinsler 17th rd in 2003)
All in all, it is a good organizational model to have 3/5th of your starting rotation be home grown.
So are you saying John Daniels did it all???
"As a Karate expert, I will not talk about any of you." Jimmy McMillan
by PREGNANT ROLLERSKATE on Oct 27, 2010 3:21 PM EDT reply actions
Jack Daniels had a role too.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Oct 27, 2010 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Jim Beam
was the guy behind the guy BEHIND the guy.
"Never get less than 12 hours sleep. Never play cards with a guy who's got the same first name as as city. And never go near a lady who's got a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick with that, and everything else is cream cheese." -Coach Bobby Finstock
by Sweep_the_Leg on Oct 28, 2010 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks, I Really
Enjoyed reading that.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Oct 28, 2010 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, that is a really well-done, interesting breakdown
The only people who really know where [the edge] is are the ones who have gone over it.
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Oct 28, 2010 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Royals Review
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Please hold: Indians’ Joe Smith jumps the gun on relief appearance
- Local radio host honors Cubs’ Tony Campana with parody song
- Roy Halladay bobblehead with glove on wrong hand selling on MLB.com
- Will Smith shows why making your big-league debut at Yankee Stadium is less than ideal
- Steinbrenners selling the Yankees? Family denies New York Daily News report
